Questions tagged [character-analysis]
Questions relating to the analysis of characters in works of literature: for example, their traits, construction, or other aspects. This tag should be used together with any relevant work, series, or author tags.
273
questions
2
votes
0
answers
38
views
Did Nina and Victor have a romantic connection or was it just built in his head?
Nabokovs Dozen, the short story 'Spring in Fialta'. The narrator is seemingly unreliable and usually the romantic parts are just his own interpretation of the event rather than her actual demeanor, ...
4
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Was Macbeth considering murdering Duncan before Lady Macbeth encouraged him to?
In Macbeth, after announcing that he will go be a harbinger for Duncan and make things ready for him at Inverness, Macbeth says this aside to himself:
Macbeth
[Aside]
The Prince of Cumberland! that ...
- 26.1k
5
votes
1
answer
68
views
What are the "eighteen methods of arranging Minerva's tresses"?
In Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, Jean Passepartout, Phileas Fogg's new servant, is introduced. We're given a description, which includes a descrption of his hair:
As for Jean, also known ...
- 26.1k
3
votes
0
answers
56
views
Is there an in-universe explanation for the contradictory language and euphemisms used in *The Screwtape Letters*?
For example, terms like "the patient," "our Father below," and Screwtape's affectionate language towards Wormwood. It actually strikes me as oddly similar to the "doublethink&...
3
votes
1
answer
113
views
Is the character named Boorman supposed to be the same person across Elsschot's œuvre?
In analogy with the question Is the character named Laarmans supposed to be the same person across Elsschot's œuvre?, it is also possible to ask whether Boorman is the same character in the novels in ...
- 47.3k
4
votes
0
answers
41
views
Why is Antonio the changeling?
Towards the end of The Changeling (1653), after De Flores stabs Beatrice-Joanna and then reveals that the two of them have been murderers and lovers, the dying Beatrice-Joanna says to her shocked ...
- 30.1k
5
votes
1
answer
84
views
The Netherlands vs Belgium in Elsschot's Cheese
Frans Laarmans, the protagonist of Willem Elsschot's Cheese, pursues and obtains a job as the Belgian sales representative for a large Dutch cheese manufacturing enterprise. Cultural and other ...
- 30.1k
2
votes
0
answers
17
views
How to understand Doña Vera's decision to flee Austria for Mexico?
One of the major characters in Anita Desai's The Zigzag Way is Doña Vera, the Austrian widow of a Mexican silver baron. The couple had met and married in Vienna just prior to the outbreak of World War ...
- 30.1k
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Why does Heep refer to Copperfield sometimes as mister and sometimes as master?
In Dickens' David Copperfield, the character Uriah Heep refers to David sometimes as "Mister Copperfield" and sometimes as "Master Copperfield." Other times, he makes a point to ...
- 657
4
votes
1
answer
87
views
Is the character named Laarmans supposed to be the same person across Elsschot's œuvre?
The protagonist and first-person narrator of Elsschot's delicious Cheese (1933) is a hapless clerk named Frans Laarmans who finds himself unexpectedly tasked with selling twenty tons of imported full-...
- 30.1k
3
votes
1
answer
109
views
Why does Sir Walter comment that Colonel Wallis is "not an ill-looking man" in "Persuasion"?
In Jane Austen's Persuasion, when explaining the backstory of the estranged cousin Mr. Elliot , who is seeking a reconcilliation, we are given this description of a friend of Mr. Elliot:
The ...
- 26.1k
3
votes
1
answer
100
views
How does the Crofts' style of driving reflect on their general guidance of affairs?
In Jane Austen's Persuasion, when Anne Elliot is getting a ride with Mrs. and Admiral Croft, she makes this observation about the Crofts' way of driving, and that is may represent a more general ...
- 26.1k
1
vote
0
answers
45
views
What roles do the minor characters play in 'Of Mice and Men'? [closed]
The minor characters (characters except George and Lennie) highlight the themes of the story (the theme of barriers (freedom and confinement) and the theme of dreams) by creating tension and ...
- 11
4
votes
1
answer
96
views
Why did the Superintendent compare Smiley to an abbey?
From John Le Carré's Smiley's People:
An abbey, the Superintendent decided. That’s what he was, an abbey. He would work that into his sermon the next time his turn came around. An abbey, made up of ...
- 1,809
1
vote
0
answers
49
views
The Call In Leadership and Literature [closed]
Some of the greatest books I have ever read are in the Book of the Dun Cow novel series, where the main character is a rooster in charge who keeps time in the barnyard through his canonical hour crows ...
- 149
6
votes
1
answer
918
views
Does Mary Bennet undergo any sort of character development in "Pride and Prejudice"?
In Pride and Prejudice, of the five Bennet sisters, the one we see the least of is Mary. (Her name appears fewer than forty times in the whole book.) Mary has a reputation for sitting with her books, ...
- 26.1k
4
votes
0
answers
53
views
Are Thomas Bernhard's (highly critical) opinions of other German/Austrian authors in "Extinction" his own?
I've been reading "Extinction" (Auslöschung) by Bernhard, in which the main character (Franz-Josef Murau) expounds, highly critically, on Goethe, Thomas Mann, Musil, etc. All of them are ...
- 163
3
votes
0
answers
50
views
Why does Percival Everett change the relationship of Carolyn Bryant and J W Milam in The Trees?
The character Granny C in Percival Everett's The Trees represents an aged Carolyn Bryant, the woman whose dubious claim that Emmett Till whistled at her led to his brutal murder. In real life, the men ...
- 30.1k
1
vote
1
answer
170
views
Why is Reepicheep so heroic?
Reepicheep the Talking Mouse is probably the most courageous and valiant character in the entire Narnia series. Many times, in the books where he appears (Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn ...
- 74.1k
1
vote
0
answers
24
views
In Patchett's 'Commonwealth', why doesn't Spencer tell Fix about Beverly's affair?
Here is a follow-up to my previous question about Ann Patchett's Commonwealth. I'm unclear about Dick Spencer's role in concealing the affair that Bert Cousins is having with Beverly Keating.
Spencer ...
- 30.1k
5
votes
0
answers
152
views
In The Master and Margarita, who is Koroviev and what is the nature of his sin?
This question involves minor spoilers for The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov.
Koroviev is one of Woland's entourage, and ostensibly serves as his translator. However, unlike the other characters ...
- 23.1k
4
votes
1
answer
263
views
Greek Alexander Romance - Plot device or other function of Alexander's surreptitious stealing of Persian drinking cups?
In one of the more common form factors of the Greek Alexander Romance (by Pseudo-Callisthenes), we have this passage, located in Book II, 15:
As they began to drink more deeply, Alexander had an idea:...
- 677
9
votes
1
answer
289
views
When did Ja'far ibn Yahya start being portrayed as an evil vizier?
Ja'far ibn Yahya or Ja'far al-Barmaki was an 8th century vizier of the caliph Harun al-Rashid. From a distinguished central Asian family, he was known for his knowledge of science, as well as his ...
- 1,503
17
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Who is Mrs LeFay in "The Magician's Nephew"?
In The Magician’s Nephew, Andrew refers to his godmother, Mrs LeFay, who gave him the powder he used to make the rings. Other than this and a reference to her possessing "fairy blood", ...
- 173
6
votes
2
answers
465
views
Is Emma's preoccupation with class and station typical of the time period or an aspect of her character?
In Jane Austen's Emma, the titular character is shown to spend a lot of time and effort thinking about class, rank, and station in society. She's worried about mixing with the lower classes, and ...
- 26.1k
2
votes
0
answers
60
views
What character traits define Ibsen’s Brand?
(I am not asking this for a school assignment. I’m not in school.)
I have not read Brand carefully. I want an introductory sense of if the content of the play accords with my understanding so far.
I ...
- 548
3
votes
2
answers
379
views
Who is the protagonist and antagonist in the myth of Creation of Seasons by Dene?
I am a high school student who has to do a presentation on a myth. I have to explain the details of the myth such as the plot, conflict etc. It is very straightforward. Here is the myth.
There are 2 &...
2
votes
1
answer
99
views
What is the significance of the ending of this short story "In the Wheels"?
The short story "In the Wheels" (available in full at that link, perhaps a 10-15 minute read) is mostly about car racing with a speculative-fiction twist, but there's a surprising (to me) ...
- 74.1k
8
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Does Nick love Gatsby?
I recently asked this question: What is the significance of Nick being gay in the Great Gatsby?
In the time before I got an answer I arrived to a conclusion similar to what answerer (@Peter Shor) did. ...
- 489
18
votes
2
answers
11k
views
Jordan's line about intimate parties in The Great Gatsby?
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
When I read this quote from Jordan Baker I was (and am) puzzled as to the meaning. It seems like ...
- 489